A city in the US has banned phones at crosswalks

One of the biggest dangers in the world today is distracted driving and walking. Almost every day you hear about a bad accident that happened because someone wasn’t paying attention to the road. These are completely avoidable situations, but sometimes people need a little push to look out for themselves. A city in the US is doing just that.

Honolulu, Hawaii just approved a law that makes it illegal for pedestrians to cross the street “while viewing a mobile electronic device.” The law is intentionally vague to include phones, gaming handhelds, tablets, and anything else. The law will officially go into effect in October.

Fines for breaking the law start at $15 and go all the way up to $100. You can still take a phone call while crossing the street as long as you aren’t looking at the screen. It’s also still legal to be in the phone zone while on the sidewalk. It would be great if people didn’t need a law like this to be safe, but that’s the nature of humans. Sometimes we don’t know what’s best for us.

[via CNN]